Chapter Summaries

Seventh Master demonstrated how the Sin Domain Map could create a black hole, then condemned Qingyuan and his men for their crimes. Du Yunting escaped before the executions, and Seventh Master threw Qingyuan into the black hole.

• Seventh Master opened the Sin Domain Map and used a murdered man’s blood to make a black hole appear.
• Seventh Master and the old veterans dragged Qingyuan and his men toward the black hole, while Song Xiaotian and the narrator discovered Du Yunting had escaped.
• The narrator called Du Yunting, who admitted he had already headed back and refused to return.
• Seventh Master listed Qingyuan’s crimes and revealed that the organization’s former leader had killed his wife, Shen Qingran, and child, Zhao Zimu.
• Qingyuan threatened Seventh Master in the name of the organization, but Seventh Master kicked him into the black hole.

Seventh Master and the elderly veterans defeated the organization’s members, and Seventh Master gave the Sin Domain Map to Daoist Mao Zhenkun to seal away. After recovering in the hospital, the narrator woke to find An Ning there and asked how she had been lured out the night before.

• The elderly veterans threw the organization’s surviving members into the black hole, while Seventh Master warned Du Yunting’s employees to stop working for him.
• The veterans reunited with Seventh Master, said their goodbyes, and left the Mountain Villa.
• Seventh Master handed the Sin Domain Map to Daoist Mao Zhenkun, who agreed to seal it away within Daoism.
• The narrator found An Ning asleep in Meng Yifan’s car, then returned to the hospital with Seventh Master and Song Xiaotian for treatment.
• The narrator woke at noon with An Ning beside him and asked how the organization had tricked her into going out.

The narrator learned how An Ning had been lured into a trap and heard the truth behind the Tan Family Massacre Case. Seventh Master told Mr. Tan what they knew, and the narrator received a share of the fee, much of which would go toward medical bills.

• The narrator learned that a caller had tricked An Ning into going out by claiming the narrator had been in a car accident, then shot her with a tranquilizer dart.
• An Ning told the narrator that Seventh Master had contacted Mr. Tan, whose request to retrieve Tan Wannian and his family's souls could not be fulfilled because they had been swallowed by the black hole.
• The narrator explained that Tan Wannian became obsessed with immortality after his first wife died of cancer, neglected his family, and brought the Sin Domain Map home.
• The narrator said Tan Wannian's eldest son resented his father's neglect and probably tampered with the Sin Domain Map, leading to the massacre's reenactment.
• Seventh Master told Mr. Tan the known truth about the massacre and advised him not to mention that Tan Wannian's soul could not be retrieved.
• Mr. Tan paid the agreed fee, Seventh Master gave the narrator a share, and the narrator worried that medical bills would consume the money.

After recovering, the narrator helped Ding Ruoning pass on and learned that Du Yunting was purging the organization from his company. He agreed to travel with Seventh Master for the Lunar New Year, while Meng Yifan planned a horror-themed hotel at Tan Family Villa.

• The narrator left the hospital and spent a day chanting scriptures with Seventh Master to help Ding Ruoning pass on.
• Seventh Master praised the narrator for using a laser pointer to make Qingyuan's people surrender, and asked him to travel together for the Lunar New Year.
• An accident at Du Yunting's construction site killed several executives; Song Xiaotian confirmed they had all belonged to the organization.
• Meng Yifan asked Song Xiaotian to approach Pan Xiaorou about acquiring Tan Family Villa for a horror-themed hotel, startling Song Xiaotian.

Meng Yifan secured Pan Xiaorou’s investment to build a horror hotel at Tan Family Villa, and the narrator’s divination predicted the business would eventually prosper. Seventh Master then revealed that Qingyuan’s people at Du Yunting’s company had been turned into living sacrifice piles at a Weihai Group construction site.

• Meng Yifan pitched a horror hotel to the narrator and Song Xiaotian and asked Song Xiaotian to persuade Pan Xiaorou to invest.
• Meng Yifan asked Pan Xiaorou for funding, and she agreed on the condition that he keep an eye on Song Xiaotian.
• Pan Xiaorou assigned a company executive to help Meng Yifan develop the hotel, and the narrator secretly divined that it would make money after construction.
• Seventh Master summoned the narrator to a Weihai Group construction site and asked where Qingyuan’s other people inside Du Yunting’s company had gone.
• The narrator suspected the missing people had been buried alive, and Seventh Master said they had been made into living sacrifice piles.

The Seventh Master and the narrator summoned Slick-back’s ghost at a construction site and questioned him about the organization. Slick-back revealed that the narrator’s Two Souls in One Lifetime fate pattern was a closely guarded secret, leaving the narrator concerned about his connection with Li Fuguang.

• The Seventh Master and the narrator summoned Slick-back’s ghost with incense and food at the construction site.
• Slick-back revealed that Qingyuan had led the Lanjiang City members and that the organization used Seven Deaths for a Life to possess wealthy people or cooperate with them.
• Slick-back said the organization selected poor people for sacrifices because their deaths were less likely to draw attention.
• Slick-back explained that Two Souls in One Lifetime was a major secret and that its two souls had a connection; the narrator thought of Li Fuguang and their own connection.
• Slick-back said Du Yunting’s people had kidnapped him and the others at eight o’clock the night Qingyuan died, and that he had died while imprisoned.
• Slick-back begged the Seventh Master to release his soul, but the Seventh Master said his buried body had to be recovered first and mocked his faith in the Evil Buddha.

After Qingyuan's death, the narrator and his coworkers enjoyed a peaceful month and celebrated the storefront's success at a year-end dinner. During the New Year break, he bought An Ning an expensive motorcycle as a gift and rode it toward her home.

• The narrator worried that the organization might target him because of his Two Souls in One Lifetime and his connection to Li Fuguang, but Seventh Master urged him to live in the present.
• The storefront had a profitable final month of the year, and Meng Yifan thanked his staff at a reunion dinner and promised to open another branch and a hotel.
• Meng Yifan gave everyone a twenty-day New Year break, and the storefront closed for the holiday.
• The narrator decided to buy An Ning a motorcycle because he considered her his younger sister, despite worrying about the gift's price and how it might be interpreted.
• The narrator bought a two-hundred-thousand-yuan Harley and rode it toward An Ning's home.

The narrator gave An Ning a Harley as a New Year’s gift, explaining that he and their friends considered her part of their circle. He then accompanied her to pay respects to Du Yuwei, where An Ning asked what he felt for her younger sister.

• The narrator nervously gave An Ning the Harley and told her that he, Meng Yifan, and Song Xiaotian had bought it together as a gift for a friend.
• An Ning accepted the motorcycle key and thanked them, then sent Meng Yifan and Song Xiaotian messages of thanks.
• The narrator and An Ning took a taxi to the cemetery because the Harley had no license plate.
• An Ning explained that she had put her own photo on Du Yuwei’s columbarium niche because she had no small photo of her sister.
• The narrator placed a lollipop beside Du Yuwei’s urn and remembered the people he had lost.
• An Ning asked the narrator what he felt for her younger sister.

Chen Mo explained his complicated feelings about Du Yuwei and Wen Jing to An Ning, then resolved to keep living for the people who needed him. After visiting the dead and his friends’ families, he traveled north with Seventh Master and spent New Year’s Eve sheltering in their car in Qi City.

• Chen Mo told An Ning that his feelings for her and Wen Jing came from both his own life and Li Fuguang’s memories, and he wished them both a happy New Year.
• Chen Mo paid respects to Du Yuwei, his dad, his grandfather, and Fang Man, then took Fang Man’s parents sightseeing and saw them off to their hometown.
• Chen Mo visited Song Xiaotian’s and Meng Yifan’s families before telling Meng Yifan he would travel with Seventh Master.
• Chen Mo and Seventh Master set off for Qi City without casting a divination, hoping to avoid being tracked by the organization’s people.
• After traffic delays stretched their drive to three days, Chen Mo and Seventh Master reached Qi City on New Year’s Eve and spent the night in their car because they could not find a hotel room.

The narrator and the Seventh Master traveled to a remote mountain village, where they met three young couples, including Hong Tao. After a villager’s wife died, Hong Tao and his friends ignored warnings and went to watch the funeral, leaving the narrator uneasy as they began filming.

• The narrator and the Seventh Master met six college students on the mountain trail and warned them to be cautious while traveling in remote places.
• The group checked into the village guesthouse, where Hong Tao explained that the students had come to photograph the mountain scenery.
• The narrator and the Seventh Master noticed that the village men were unusually eager to approach the young women.
• The villagers announced that a woman had died and gathered near her home after her body was laid outside.
• Hong Tao and the other students went to watch despite the Seventh Master’s warning, and Hong Tao secretly filmed the deceased.

After a dead young woman opened her eyes, the narrator and Seventh Master returned to the guesthouse, but the next morning villagers reported that Wang Si’s wife’s body had vanished. Seventh Master concluded that the corpse had revived and run off, while the stubborn young visitors went to help search for her.

• At the funeral gathering, the wind lifted the sheet from the dead woman, and Seventh Master said she had opened her eyes, so the group left.
• The narrator warned Hong Tao to lock his door and keep his companions inside, but Hong Tao dismissed the warning.
• The next morning, the narrator found his window open and snow inside, though nothing appeared disturbed in his room.
• The guesthouse owner told the group that Wang Si’s dead wife had disappeared overnight.
• Hong Tao and the other young visitors insisted on joining the villagers’ search, despite Seventh Master’s protests.
• After inspecting Wang Si’s house and finding no signs of an animal or funeral preparations, Seventh Master concluded that the corpse had revived and run off.

Hong Tao and his friends dismissed Seventh Master’s warnings about Wang Si’s risen wife and planned to leave the village the next day. After the narrator revealed that she might have been pregnant, he took extra precautions that night, but a woman appeared clinging to his window.

• Seventh Master warned Hong Tao and his friends to leave the village because Wang Si’s wife had risen, but they rejected his explanation and invited him to join their photography trip.
• Seventh Master explained how ordinary risen corpses differed from ghosts and said Wang Si’s wife might retain more of her soul because she had not attacked anyone and had hidden herself.
• The narrator told Seventh Master that Wang Si’s wife’s belly had looked swollen, leading him to suspect she had been pregnant, and Seventh Master predicted trouble.
• The narrator secured his window, placed a knife under his pillow, and later left his room to use the toilet.
• When the narrator returned to bed, he saw a woman clinging to the outside of his window and staring at him.

The narrator and Seventh Master chased a woman who had been peering into the narrator’s room, only to learn she was Liu Lao’er’s mute, mentally ill wife. After Liu Lao’er dragged her inside and beat her, the narrator suspected that something was strange about the village.

• The narrator spotted a woman outside his second-floor window and alerted Seventh Master, then they jumped down and followed her footprints.
• The woman knocked the narrator down, but he stopped Seventh Master from stabbing her after realizing she was alive; they caught her and saw that half her tongue was missing.
• A local man identified the woman as Liu Lao’er’s wife and said Wang Si’s wife was still missing, possibly carried off by an animal.
• The man led them to Liu Lao’er’s house, where Liu Lao’er cursed and kicked his wife before dragging her inside.
• The narrator and Seventh Master returned to the cold and snow, and the narrator said the villagers seemed strange.

The narrator and Seventh Master suspected the village was trafficking women and used a divination to locate Wang Si’s missing wife. They found her corpse hidden in the narrator’s wardrobe, where she had been staying since the first night.

• The narrator and Seventh Master discussed the mute madwoman and Wang Si’s young wife, suspecting both women had been trafficked.
• The narrator and Seventh Master visited Wang Si, who said his wife was missing in the dangerous mountain forest.
• The narrator and Seventh Master concluded the village’s guesthouse might be a trap for female visitors and cast a hexagram to locate Wang Si’s wife.
• The divination indicated Wang Si’s wife was nearby, so Seventh Master and the narrator searched the narrator’s room with knives.
• Seventh Master opened the wardrobe and found Wang Si’s dead, pregnant wife curled inside.
• The woman nodded that she had died at Wang Si’s house but could not speak.

The narrator and the Seventh Master discovered a trafficked woman who had died and reanimated, then realized the village had likely cut off phone service to target Hong Tao’s group. They went to find the college students, but learned Gao Jianxue had vanished and the others had asked the villagers for help.

• The narrator and the Seventh Master questioned the reanimated woman and learned she had been trafficked, along with other women in the village.
• The narrator found there was no phone signal and could not call the police, leading the Seventh Master to suspect someone had deliberately blocked communications.
• The Seventh Master warned that the village was a den of evil and urged the narrator to find Hong Tao and the other students before the girls were targeted.
• The narrator and the Seventh Master heard a commotion and found Hong Tao asking villagers to help search for Gao Jianxue, who had disappeared while filming on the mountain.
• The narrator and the Seventh Master suspected the villagers had abducted Gao Jianxue and realized Hong Tao’s group had trusted the wrong people.

The narrator followed the villagers into the mountains to protect Qin Yuhang and his girlfriend, while the others searched for the missing Gao Jianxue. After the villagers led their group into danger, the narrator redirected a pack of wolves toward one of them and prepared to attack the two survivors.

• The narrator warned Hong Tao and Su Li that Gao Jianxue had been hidden in the village, but Hong Tao refused to believe him and went into the mountains.
• The narrator left Su Li with the Seventh Master and joined Qin Yuhang's group as the villagers split the search parties apart.
• Three villagers led Qin Yuhang, his girlfriend, and the narrator along a mountain path, where they encountered three enormous wolves.
• A villager falsely assured Qin Yuhang and his girlfriend that the wolves would not attack, but the wolves charged at them.
• The narrator used the Eight Gates Method to redirect the wolves toward the villager, who died from his injuries as his two companions drew knives and drove the wolves away.
• The narrator saw the two villagers distracted by their dead companion and threw rocks at their heads.

After finding proof that Gao Jianxue had been hidden by the villagers, the narrator tried to get the students to safety. He discovered Hong Tao had been killed, reunited with Shen Dong, and returned to the guesthouse, where the Seventh Master ordered everyone to flee and call the police.

• The narrator knocked out three men, found suspicious evidence on a phone, and showed Qin Yuhang and Liang Qianqian that the villagers had hidden Gao Jianxue.
• The narrator gave Qin Yuhang a machete and told him to take Liang Qianqian to the guesthouse while he searched for the others.
• The narrator found Hong Tao dead and watched villagers bury his body, then abandoned his search for the remaining boy.
• The narrator ran into Shen Dong, who had escaped the villagers but lost his way, and brought him back to the guesthouse.
• The narrator told the group that Hong Tao had been killed, and the Seventh Master ordered everyone to pack and leave the village to call the police.

After Seventh Master led the group into the mountains to escape the villagers, the villagers surrounded them and attacked. Seventh Master summoned Qiongqi, and the reanimated woman went on a killing spree before black dog blood stopped them; the narrator stayed behind to cover the others and faced an old woman’s counterattack.

• Seventh Master led the group toward the mountains after a crowd armed with farm tools blocked the village entrance.
• The villagers intercepted them, and the narrator stabbed one attacker while Seventh Master fought through the crowd.
• Seventh Master summoned Qiongqi and attacked the villagers, but blood splashed onto the reanimated woman and triggered her frenzy.
• The woman bit several villagers to death before they threw black dog blood on her and Seventh Master, ending his transformation.
• The narrator used a Bewildering Soul Formation to help the others escape, then faced an old woman who broke the formation with a bowl and chopsticks.
• As a hoe swung toward him, the narrator formed the Dao Finger gesture and used Fu Yin.

After escaping the villagers with the Hexagram Character Formula, I reunited with Seventh Master and the others, only to learn that Liang Qianqian had been abducted. The group hid in a mountain cave until nightfall, and I began to suspect someone had lured Qin Yuhang’s group to the village.

• I used Fu Yin to escape the villagers and followed Seventh Master’s coded directions through the snow.
• I reunited with Seventh Master and the others, but discovered that Liang Qianqian was missing and had likely been abducted.
• Qin Yuhang begged Seventh Master to rescue Liang Qianqian, but Seventh Master insisted they wait until night and first find a safe place to hide.
• Seventh Master led the group to a cave, where they sheltered from the cold as night fell and the village remained brightly lit.
• I recalled other disappearances in remote areas, suspected someone had guided Qin Yuhang’s group to the village, and asked him whose idea it had been to come there.

Qin Yuhang blamed Shen Dong for bringing the group to the village, but Shen Dong explained that someone had lured them there through a photography forum. The dead woman’s unborn child was still alive, and after resting, Shen Dong joined Seventh Master and the narrator on their return to the village to rescue the captives.

• Qin Yuhang accused Shen Dong of causing their friends’ deaths and attacked him before the narrator and Seventh Master pulled them apart.
• Shen Dong explained that an unknown person had sent him photographs and persuaded him that the village was a good place to visit.
• The narrator noticed the dead woman’s belly had swollen, and Seventh Master felt the child move inside it.
• Seventh Master concluded that the unborn child was alive and said they would need to bring back a midwife.
• After resting until about two, Shen Dong agreed to accompany the narrator and Seventh Master back to the village, while Qin Yuhang stayed behind.